The Washington Redskins beat the Jets 16-11 on Friday night, which means that they have somehow already won the 2011 Super Bowl. (I believe that's how it works -- you take down the 2010 champs in the preseason and we hand you the title immediately, right?)

They got a little bad news because Clinton Portis suffered a sprained ankle, although he has apparently said he's "ok" and Mike Shanahan "doesn't think it's serious" according to multiple reports on Twitter.

But they got some g-g-g-g-rrreat news in the sense that Albert Haynesworth is somehow, miraculously, happy now, having played the majority of the Redskins' first-team snaps on Friday night. He's so happy, in fact, that he was making with the jokes following the game.

According to Rick Maese on Twitter , Haynesworth "says last week's problems are in [the] past. Says he's on same page as Shanahan." He also apparently made some joke about having dinner with Shanahan and "sharing cigars tonight."

Lord only knows how bizarre that scene would look, but hey, if it makes the Redskins' DT stop behaving like a kid the same age as the number of zeroes in his paycheck and lets us all cross his name off of the "annoying preseason storyline" list (which now just features Brett Favre and Darrelle Revis, with Vincent Jackson creeping close), we'll take it.

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So it has to be considered good news when McNabb told the press today that his ankle has "absolutely" improved.

“Absolutely," McNabb said. "It does feel a lot better than when I actually came out of the game and the last couple of days. It’s continued to progress over the last couple of days.”

Fortunately, Mike Shanahan doesn't think it's too terribly big of a deal if McNabb can't make either of the next two preseason games.

“Well, he is missing a half," Shanahan said. "We would like him to have that half, but we know it is not possible. But, he has got a lot of reps in the OTAs and he has been working. Those things are going to happen all year round, so you deal with it. He has gotten a few snaps in his career, so I think he can handle it.”

Bear in mind, of course, that Shanny also told the press recently that if this week WERE a regular season game, chances are "slim" that McNabb could suit up and start.

McNabb added that he didn't ask to be taken out for the last series following the injury because, "I'm a football player. I get banged up. I just continue to fight through it." He also pointed out that he didn't feel the extra series created any additional damage to the ankle.

All this talk to the press is good and well and everything ... until the regular season starts. No one minds seeing how Grossman looks now, but if McNabb starts moving slowly when the games matter, it's a whole different story.

"One thing for sure that is clear to me is that Albert has gotten away in the past with playing without practicing,'' Shanahan said. "That will not happen under this regime. If he's going to play, he's going to practice, and that is the same with every player here. The days of him playing without practicing are over. And that, to me, says it all."

So, once again, we have a situation where a) Haynesworth is being potentially petulant and b) Shanny is taking a hard-line stance.

It's not hard to guess who'll win this battle (again), and it's also not hard to fault anyone for siding with the somewhat grating Redskins coach here: Haynesworth gets paid like a superstar and acts like a toddler; it's just frustrating to watch unfold.

Jason La Canfora of NFL.com is reporting a league source has told him the Redskins DL could be suffering from rhabdomyolysis, a breakdown of muscle fibers resulting in the release of muscle fiber contents into the bloodstream which could result in kidney damage.

According to Google Health , symptoms include general weakness, muscle aching and tenderness, nausea and vomiting.

If that’s true, that’s probably why Haynesworth was so pissed while talking to reporters following Saturday night’s preseason game. You’ll recall here that Haynesworth was very snarky after the game, saying “I was told I had headaches or whatever and that's why I couldn't go out and practice. It was a little bit more than that, but they didn't want to expose that.”

Obviously, Haynesworth’s condition wasn’t bad enough to keep him from playing in the second half of Saturday’s game. But you also have to wonder: did coach Mike Shanahan not reveal this possible diagnosis in order to question Haynesworth’s toughness or because it was a private medical issue? Why didn’t Haynesworth say something to the media last week? Is this a career-threatening condition? What’s the next piece of news to come out regarding Haynesworth/Shanahan?

Brian Westbrook's been quite cautious with his free agency this offseason, which is rather rare for an aging running back with concussion issues. Theoretically, he'd like to jump on the first team that could offer him a good contract and some playing time, before the rest of the 2002 Pro Bowlers (Larry Johnson, Willie Parker) filled those spots.

And of course, St. Louis would love to have Westbrook in order to compliment Steven Jackson.

So, now that it's clear that his patience has paid off, what should Westbrook do. Personally, I think the Niners provide the best possible fit for Westbrook.

They're a contending team (in a particularly weak division) with less personnel in the backfield -- Frank Gore and new-found bruiser Anthony Dixon are the only competition for carries out by the bay.

In Washington, Westbrook's talents would certainly be utilized and he would get to play with his old buddy Donovan McNabb, but as mentioned, their depth chart is pretty full with LJ, Parker, Clinton Portis, et al. That's not to say Westbrook couldn't be better than those guys or that those guys couldn't be cut, but the path to touches is much more difficult there.

St. Louis would provide touches and good money, but the odds of winning a Super Bowl there this year are roughly 200:1 (at least according to Sportsbook ... and that's being generous, really). The same thing applies for Buffalo, with the caveat that when Jackson and Lynch return, Westbrook could see his carries drop again.

Like every decision for veterans, it may come down to how much Westbrook values winning versus playing time versus money. San Francisco just seems to offer the best combination of the three.

On Saturday afternoon, it seemed all but guaranteed that Brian Westbrook would be a member of the St. Louis Rams. However, the Rams refuted the reported Westbrook signing, and the former Eagle remains a free agent.

"Like I told you, I'm not sure what direction he's going," Mike Shanahan said. "But we've been entertaining that option. I'm not sure what direction he's going at this time."

In non-angry words, that means "We're interested, but we're not sure if we can overpay for an additional 2000 Pro Bowl running back."

The 'Skins already have Clinton Portis, Larry Johnson, Willie Parker, Ryan Torain and Keiland Williams on their depth chart. Bringing in Westbrook would be good for them in terms of really boosting the backfield's pass-catching ability, but they'd probably have to admit a mistake on either Parker or Johnson and cut them loose, simply because there aren't enough carries to go around.

Of course, the upshot for Washington looking at Westbrook is that he already has an excellent repoire with starting quarterback Donovan McNabb, and plugging him into Shanahan's offense with an already comfortable situation would be fun to watch.

Albert Haynesworth's performance in the Redskins' new defense will be highly scrutinized during the 2010 season. That's to be expected though, after the conditioning test debacle and the $21 million roster bonus he took from the team.

But as our buddy Doug Farrar noted at Shutdown Corner last night , it's not too early to start shredding through Big Al's performance. Warren Sapp started the process by taking a detailed look at how Haynesworth played at the beginning of the 2009 Monday Night Football game between the Redskins and the Cowboys, and the results are, ahem, a touch disappointing. (Haynesworth's anyway; Sapp is a virtuoso in the clip below.)

Remember: This is the first six plays of the game , a time when Haynesworth should -- even if he was in horrible shape -- be dominating. It's an embarrassing little run of plays in which Haynesworth knocked off his feet, double teamed into being uber-lazy and eventually fooled by a play-action counter that results in a touchdown for the Cowboys.

Sapp knows a thing or two about playing on the defensive line, and while he's been known to be mouthy in the past, it's pretty difficult to discount what he's pointing out here: Albert Haynesworth lacks sufficient motivation to succeed without having piles of dollar Bills dangled in his face.

Maybe that changes this year under Mike Shanahan, but raising expectations for a guy with his history is a dangerous game for fans and coaches alike.

Albert Haynesworth's decision to either skip or fail his conditioning test has been quite public. As such, anyone with any sort of medium has expressed a certain degree of irritation with Haynesworth's decision not to take care of his business and get to the practices.

Except the actual members of the Redskins, anyway (Mike Shanahan, excepted, of course). Turns out, though, that members of the team are getting a little "irritated" and "frustrated" with the DT's behavior.

Jason Reid of the Washington Post reports that the "feeling of many at Redskins Park is that the two-time all-pro should have already passed the test." Additionally, team officials, according to Reid's sources, "do not believe that [Haynesworth's] pain rises to a level that would prevent him from passing the test ..."

Reid adds that one source points out that Haynesworth "was flying" during his treadmill work on Thursday, which, coupled with the positive MRI result, hasn't gone a long way towards making anyone feel sympathetic with the DT.

Long story short: Mike Shanahan may have cheesed some people off with the way he's treated Haynesworth, and he may have received his fair share of criticism, but the bottom line is that he read this situation 100% correctly, and that the longer Haynesworth goes without passing the test, the more he'll alienate himself from the rest of the organization.